Norfolk Fanning 



445 



averaged in the seven years, ending 1857, only 

 ^227,582. They are again on the increase, for the 

 poor's-rates, with the receipts in aid thereof, were last 

 year;,{^245,66i. The county and police rates in 1842 

 were only ;^i6,20o ; in 1857 they had risen to 

 £2'],2^'j ; and last year the county receipts amounted 

 t0;^40,342. Of this sum nearly ;^i3,ooo was raised 

 by the police rate, ;^i4,ooo by a general county rate, 

 the rest came from Government and other sources, 

 leaving a balance of ;i^3895 in hand. 



There can be no doubt that the question of county 

 rates, and indeed all local taxation will early come 

 under the notice of the new Parliament. It is a ques- 

 tion so large, so absorbing, and so important, that I 

 must be content with simply mentioning it here, but I 

 may, in passing, observe that this great increase of 

 county expenditure in Norfolk is not attributable to 

 any neglect of magisterial oversight, but rather to the 

 new burdens which Parliament continually heaps upon 

 the real property of the kingdom. And it should also 

 be remarked that almost the whole of this increase is 

 borne by the clergy and tenantry rather than the land- 

 owners. The increase is so gradual, so imperceptible, 

 that no tenant can calculate it when he hires a farm. 

 So there is no difference made in the rent, and any 

 increase of the rates falls upon the tenant, while for 

 similar reasons any saving, which is indeed of rare 

 occurrence, finds its way into the occupier's pocket. 



GENERAL REMARKS. 



The drought of this year is one of the heaviest visi- 

 tations which has ever befallen the agriculture of Nor- 

 folk. Happily, we grow a full average cro]) of wheat, 

 the loams, clays, and fen lands making up for the de- 

 ficiency of the sands, gravels, and thin chalks. But 

 there is only half a barley crop, and not more than a 

 similar return of other spring corn and pulse. Hay is 

 very light and next year's grass seeds are burnt clean 

 up. But the greatest blow to the Norfolk farmer 

 remains untold, it is the loss of his root crop. For 

 this nothing can compensate. It is not simply the 

 value of his turnips, but as roots are the foundation of 

 his course of cropping there is the prospective 

 deterioration of his round of cereals till turnips come 

 again. 



In no other county in England have such great 

 results been accomplished by the application of the 

 calcareous substrata to the surface soil. Farmers 

 seem to have hoped that liberal doses of artificial 

 manure would have prevented the necessity of expen- 

 sive coats of clay, marl, &c. But they have failed to 

 produce the good chemical effects of these dressings, 

 and, of course, do not consolidate and improve the 

 texture of the land in a similar way. Under-draining 

 is not much needed, but where recently attempted has 

 been executed better and at a greater depth than 

 formerly. Sometimes the landlord does all the drain- 

 ing an<l charges the tenant 5 per cent, on the outlay, 

 but more generally the owner finds the pipes and the 

 tenant the lal^our. Farm buildings were always pretty 



good, and still maintain their superiority, but in a 

 county where so little rain falls, and there is plenty of 

 straw, covered yards are not much cared for. Great 

 changes have taken place in the fences, especially in 

 West Norfolk. Formerly the white thorn fences were 

 10 or 12 feet high, but they are now reduced to about 

 4 feet, and are kept carefully trimmed. Fields have 

 been made larger by the removal of useless fences, and 

 much hedge-row timber has been grubbed on the 

 Holkham and other large estates, but a still further 

 improvement in this direction is needed in many parts 

 of Norfolk. 



Railways have greatly accelerated agricultural pro- 

 gress. Thirty years ago no part of the country was 

 more inaccessible than Norfolk. Now we are fairly 

 supplied with trunk and branch lines, and eveiy por- 

 tion of the county, save the N.E. district, has been 

 benefited by railroads. Perhaps the farmers of the 

 west are rather more gainers than those of the east, 

 who had always such excellent and cheap water car- 

 riage at their command. But I think I am fully 

 justified in stating my conviction that no part of Eng- 

 land is so ^\Tetchedly served by raili-oads as East 

 Anglia — the Great Eastern being by universal consent 

 the dearest and worst railway out of London. How- 

 ever great the benefits which railroads have conferred 

 upon Norfolk agriculture (and I am not unmindful of 

 them), the wretched mismanagement of the whole 

 system has been the means of administering those 

 benefits in truly homceopathic doses. 



AGRICULTURAL ST.\TISTICS OF NORFOLK. 



Through the courtesy of the Board of Trade, I am 

 enabled to bring down the agricultural statistics of our 

 county to the present year. We have also in Norfolk 

 the advantage of an early attempt to obtain these re- 

 turns, as Sir John Walsham in '54 collected some 

 very reliable figures as to the number of our stock, 

 and the acreage of our crops ; and even a return of 

 horses, wh'ch timid Governments have never since 

 attempted ; I can, therefore, furnish authentic returns 

 for four years — viz., those of 1854 and 1866, 1867, 

 and 1868. 



RETURN OF LIVE STOCK IN NORFOLK. 



1854. 



Total cattle... 



Cows, &c 



Other cattle- 

 Over two- 

 years-old 

 Under two- 

 years-old 



Total sheep 

 and lambs. . 



Old sheep. ... 



Lambs 



Piss 



1866. 1867. 

 (In March) 



1868. 



99,000 92,000 103,000 122,000 

 25,000 24,000 27,000 27,000 



59 39,000 40,000 59,000 



15 28,000 34,000 35,000 



841,000 .596,000 776,000 847,000 



468,000 405,000 454,000 506,000 



373,000 191,000 321,000 341,000 



99,000 115,000 144,000 92,000 



